Because this looks like a solid object to me, but SketchUp disagrees with no explanation, and Googling “sketchup make solid” and “sketchup use outer shell with non solids” returned no useful results.
How about sharing the SKP file so we can see what you’ve got?
Basically a solid is a group or component that contains “water tight” geometry. In simple terms, every edge is shared by exactly two faces. No more and no less. If your box or cube isn’t in a group or component, SketchUp won’t call it solid.
1 Like
placeholder_obelisk’.skp (218.6 KB)
Basically a solid is a [...] component
I tried making my cube into a component but it didn’t work. skp attached.
Looks like it worked to me. I only selected the box after the file opened. Entity Info says it’s solid.
The 3D text isn’t solid. Are you trying to combine the two?
Here’s a good example of why the text isn’t solid. This is at the apex of the letter A. There are internal faces and edges being shared by more than two faces.
You could go through the text and fix the bad bits but it might be easier to choose a better font.
1 Like
The 3D text isn't solid.
Then Google lied to me, because the results I found said they were solid by default.
Are you trying to combine the two?
Yes. I need to make the whole model into one thing, because I need to export it into the Unreal Engine as a single mesh (currently, when I export to FBX, Unreal imports each component individually).
See my edit, above. 3D text can be solid if the font doesn’t have artifacts as the one you chose appears to have.
That example you provided clarifies quite a bit, but I feel like it would have saved us both a whole lot of headache if SketchUp highlighted those bad bits somehow. Still though, at least I know why SketchUp is refusing to accept it.
Do you have a name for a known-good font I can use?
“I don’t often Google, but when I do Google, I Google this site: https://help.sketchup.com” 
For example:
User Guide: SketchUp Make and SketchUp Pro
SketchUp’s Solid tools work only on SketchUp solids. In SketchUp, a solid is any 3D model (component or group) that has a finite closed volume. A SketchUp solid cannot have any leaks (missing faces or faces that do not meet at an edge).
3 Likes
Honestly, I need a new search engine. I haven’t been able to get anything helpful out of Google since 2014. I don’t know if my “personalized” search algorithms are just screwed up or what’s going on, but…
1 Like
It’s just a pun on the beer ad with “The most interesting man in the world.”
ThomThom created an extension that does just this. Get it at the Extension Warehouse.
- In SketchUp,… make sure you are signed in via the little man icon on the lower left of the status bar.
- Then from the menu, Window > Extension Warehouse
- On the main EW page in the right margin, you’ll see quick links to the better known plugin authors.
Click his link, … - and on his alphabetic list of extensions, scroll down to Solid Inspector 2, and click it.
- On it’s product page, click the red Install button (top right of right column.)
- Answer Yes to confirmation dialog.
- Answer OK to the success messagebox.
The menuitem will appear at the bottom of the Tools menu.
The extension’s toolbar with the one button will be shown visible upon install.
(You can dismiss it, or dock it where you wish, … and/or go into toolbar edit mode [ View > Toolbars…] and drag or copy the button to another Ruby extension toolbar. ie, you cannot add extension buttons to any of the native toolbars.)
Repeat to install other nifty extensions. I’d also suggest his CleanUp and Selection Toys extensions.
2 Likes
If I’m going to 3D print something, I like to use Arial Rounded MT Bold since it has a nearly uniform stroke width which allows smaller letters to be printed.
3 Likes
This is actually meant for importing into a video game engine. Which, now that I’ve been banging away at it for a while, doesn’t seem like the kind of 3D modelling SketchUp was designed for (considering I need to deal with UV mapping, and that doesn’t seem to be an available function in SketchUp without a plugin)
But hey, at least I got it into the engine in one piece now:
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed 91 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.